Blow That Dough! - 2020

[Fireup2020]

Bought house in July, it’s been under renovation since Nov (full gut & addition)...first thing we did was buy a dock, and now we added the boat ?[emoji41][emoji106]

 

[Ronstar]

^ very nice! And an excellent way to blow some dough!

 

[RobbieB]

That's sweet! Makes me want to get a boat in the water and go fishing -

 

[RobbieB]

Ordered up another $300 from Catalina Offshore. Going to eat the last of the Bluefin tuna tomorrow. With 300 minimum you get free overnight shipping -

 

[f35phixer]

Ordered up another $300 from Catalina Offshore. Going to eat the last of the Bluefin tuna tomorrow. With 300 minimum you get free overnight shipping -

so obviously they have a good product, can you tell me what you get mostly? We love us some sushi!

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah - that’s the best way to get the best fish. Might have to order me some salmon from Seattle.

 

[RobbieB]

so obviously they have a good product, can you tell me what you get mostly? We love us some sushi!

Oh yes!

Bluefin tuna for sure and not ahi, get the expensive bluefin

Salmon - all their salmon is wonderful

Yellowtail - imported from Japan, this is the real deal, excellent hamachi

 

[Dash man]

Well, we blew some dough this week. Bought a 2267 sq ft townhouse for our son and his family to entice them to move near us with our grandson. They arranged job transfers, so we pulled the trigger on a place just fifteen minutes away. We close on July or possibly earlier. Paying cash, so no mortgage hassles to deal with.

 

[pb4uski]

View attachment 35014

Bought house in July, it’s been under renovation since Nov (full gut & addition)...first thing we did was buy a dock, and now we added the boat ?[emoji41][emoji106]

Was just talking with DW about replacing our 20' 2001 Bennington with a similar new boat.... problem is that the 2001 is still in really nice shape (you'd think it was 5 years old rather than 19 years old) and runs great... in fact, I just got back from having dinner out on it.

 

[RobbieB]

My boats have all looked like crap and the new one will be no exception. Just some used 20 yr old fiberglass (lasts forever) with a good motor (won't leave me stranded up the river) that I won't mind some dried chicken liver (catfish bait) blood on the gunnels at all. Just mop it twice a year with some river water.

The real expense is the $100/mo slip rent (probably $150 now it's been so long) but I'mma gonna do it! Next on the list after the house is done.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm in between... I want something decent but no need to new or the latest and greatest. We've had some really nice used boats over the years and still never paid $10k for any of them. You can find a lot of good values in used boats.

 

[RobbieB]

I know. The most expensive boat (and motor) I've owned was $3500.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Just paid the painter $6790. The only other estimate I got was $20,500

 

[statsman]

We have numerous purchases that have been on hold for about 3-4 months, mostly for our new house we moved into June of 2019. A lot of our older furniture was donated, given away for free, or recycled when we moved to Texas in the Fall of 2018. Some of that furniture has been replaced in the past year. The remainder was planned for replacement this Spring, but that was OBE. Individually, all of these purchases are not exactly "Blow That Dough!" in nature, but the cumulative will easily exceed $10K.

The backyard in the new house is all grass, and we would like to add several ornamental trees/shrubs back there. The main roadblock is the land here is mostly limestone and clay. A *lot* of limestone. In addition, there were some quartz-based stones littered throughout the surface of the lot we chose for the house build. I don't think they encountered solid quartz when building the slab foundation for the house, but the retirement living facilities a half mile away did when they dug down the outline for that community's in-ground pool.

I can't imagine the cost to try and create planting holes for 6-8 ornamental trees/shrubs in the backyard, but if done right it could be one of those "Blow That Dough!" moments. I say "done right" because if left to most landscapers around here, they would dig down just far enough to fit the root ball of the new plants. While this works for most clay and loam soils (amending the soil fill as part of the planting), I'm pretty sure that will not be sufficient for a bunch of 5-15 gallon plants. I'm guessing we'll need a depth at least twice the root ball depth in the containers, assuming it isn't all limestone at that depth. If it is, all bets are off as to how much it will really cost to get this done.

 

[DrRoy]

Continuing with the pre-covid remodeling. The painter is working on the new oak stairway with cherry newels and rail.

 

[Ronstar]

Just ordered $550 worth of mulch. Not a lot of dough to blow, but it is a lot of dough for mulch that is just going to be dumped in a pile.

 

[W2R]

Just ordered $550 worth of mulch. Not a lot of dough to blow, but it is a lot of dough for mulch that is just going to be dumped in a pile.

Yes but I imagine you will end up with a terrific garden! Every time you walk outside your home and look at whatever you decided to grow in that mulch, you will be glad you spent that money.

I am all for landscaping expenses that keep paying me back with big smiles on my face, even years later. Five years ago I spent over $27K on having my yard completely re-done and re-graded, and the satisfaction that brings me is continual and huge.

 

[MBAustin]

I have been doing ZOOM yoga classes in the guest bedroom and decided that the 20+ year old bedspread has outlived its useful life. Ordered a new one from Overstock and the coordinating pillows from Amazon (only place they were available). Less than $200 total but totally unnecessary, so that qualified as BTD in my frugal book.

 

[RobbieB]

This is our new garden area, a bed of compacted decomposed granite with irrigation pipes installed. Soon to be occupied by six 6' x 2' x 2' galvanized stock tubs. Elevated for no bending and irrigated with timer.

Gophers will not be eating my crops!

 

[braumeister]

When my camera started acting up recently, I replaced it with a much newer and better one. Then I started buying accessories (lenses, etc.) and found that they added up to nearly the price of the new camera!

But I still think it was worth it. Being home all day, I've been seriously learning all the bells and whistles on the new camera and it has been more fun than I imagined. Can't wait to start traveling again so I can put it to use!

 

[JP.mpls]

Robbie,
RE: Your new raised garden beds:


Wow, that should turn out very nice. Please post pictures of the completed job.


I have an outdoor patio area that I want redesigned. Mostly new plants, but I'm still thinking about it. Now you have me thinking about adding raised garden beds.



Take care, JP

 

[statsman]

This is our new garden area, a bed of compacted decomposed granite with irrigation pipes installed. Soon to be occupied by six 6' x 2' x 2' galvanized stock tubs. Elevated for no bending and irrigated with timer.

.
.
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Gophers will not be eating my crops!

I miss working with California soil. So easy to deal with in most cases (born and raised in the Central Valley; owned two houses over 32 years in Silicon Valley on what was once orchards).

The soil here in our area of Central Texas is mostly limestone with some clay. If we were to dig down far enough, we might hit solid quartz like they did at the retirement living facility a half mile away.

We would like to have some Crape Myrtle trees/shrubs planted in the backyard lawn area, but I can't imagine the work it would take to make that happen. Very likely a Blow That Dough undertaking.

 

[aja8888]

I miss working with California soil. So easy to deal with in most cases (born and raised in the Central Valley; owned two houses over 32 years in Silicon Valley on what was once orchards).

The soil here in our area of Central Texas is mostly limestone with some clay. If we were to dig down far enough, we might hit solid quartz like they did at the retirement living facility a half mile away.

We would like to have some Crape Myrtle trees/shrubs planted in the backyard lawn area, but I can't imagine the work it would take to make that happen. Very likely a Blow That Dough undertaking.

You must be new to Texas. Didn't your real estate agent tell you the everyone living north of Houston needs to have a jack hammer to use as a yard tool? LOL!

 

[statsman]

You must be new to Texas. Didn't your real estate agent tell you the everyone living north of Houston needs to have a jack hammer to use as a yard tool? LOL!

19 months in Texas. One year in the new house. No clue from anyone during that time that gardening had the challenge of poor soil. We saw garden supplies and potted plants everywhere when we first arrived, so we assumed it was manageable. The area from Leander to Liberty Hill is brutal in some sections. Here I was thinking the biggest challenge would be dealing with the extreme summer heat and plant diseases (powdery mildew, black spot, etc.).

It is certainly not going to be cheap getting the soil to be reasonably workable in the yard. Even if we manage to break up the ground and bring in top soil and amendments, there is the issue of disposing of a lot of limestone.

 

[REWahoo]

Here I was thinking the biggest challenge would be dealing with the extreme summer heat and [-]plant diseases[/-] Texans.

FIFY